THE VIDEO THREAD!

[Mike Sacristan]

3 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

What exactly is your profession, that allows you to take a 1-year sabbatical? Speaking as an envious Yank 

No problem ignoring my question if you want to keep things private, but I figured it can't hurt to ask 

Thanks for the courtesy. Nothing private about it. All of you guys here on the forum are very cool so that is why I tend to post publicly.
I thought you would be the last person to ask that question though. You ride non stop so I figured that you had everything sorted and maybe had your own company and people working for you. So that you could just ride around all day haha.

I work in IT. I started as a technician and worked my way up to Servicedesk Manager and upper management. I've been working with computers for the past 20 years. The last years more as team leader and coach and also [insert all the other stuff that people at the company don't want to do]. In Sweden it's almost impossible to get fired so if you get tired of your workplace you have to take things into your own hands and quit. Which I did. I just want the time to re-evaluate my life and my priorities. I have become a bit of a bitter and unhappy person and that was a bit of a high price for me to pay. I need to work on my life/work balance but to do that I need to just stop work for a while. There is a high demand for people who work in IT here in Sweden so I am not worried in the slightest about getting a new job further on. Especially considering my background and work experience.

Starting March I will be free!

[winterwheel]

An outtake from my Canmore trip.

[stephen]

7 minutes ago, winterwheel said:

An outtake from my Canmore trip.

Oooh man your crazy that's ice ,,snow yeah! ,,but ice  ,, i salute you

[Marty Backe]

15 minutes ago, Mike Sacristan said:

Thanks for the courtesy. Nothing private about it. All of you guys here on the forum are very cool so that is why I tend to post publicly.
I thought you would be the last person to ask that question though. You ride non stop so I figured that you had everything sorted and maybe had your own company and people working for you. So that you could just ride around all day haha.

I work in IT. I started as a technician and worked my way up to Servicedesk Manager and upper management. I've been working with computers for the past 20 years. The last years more as team leader and coach and also [insert all the other stuff that people at the company don't want to do]. In Sweden it's almost impossible to get fired so if you get tired of your workplace you have to take things into your own hands and quit. Which I did. I just want the time to re-evaluate my life and my priorities. I have become a bit of a bitter and unhappy person and that was a bit of a high price for me to pay. I need to work on my life/work balance but to do that I need to just stop work for a while. There is a high demand for people who work in IT here in Sweden so I am not worried in the slightest about getting a new job further on. Especially considering my background and work experience.

Starting March I will be free!

Fantastic. Riding the wheel must change your personality, because in your videos you come across as fun loving and not bitter  Good for you in being able to take a step back to consider the bigger picture.

I myself am a lowly Aerospace engineer having spent my career working in the satellite industry. I just have a few more years before retirement and then I get to enjoy one hell of long sabbatical 

[Unventor]

3 hours ago, Smoother said:

@Unventor and @Mike Sacristan guess what! they've just added this great new feature to the forum, its called "Messages"  It allows 2 or more members to chat with each other without the whole internet listening in.  Yeah, I know! Crazy, right !! 

I hear you, however if you look at the forum you will find a lot of passive readers. The hole point of writing public is to invite others to join in. And to share experiences. It just so happen you might find a new that share same interest riding EUC. Ohh almost forgot, should you ever find you way western part of Sweden you are very welcome ask for a possible meetup. 😁 Lets go crazy 😆

[winterwheel]

 

10 minutes ago, stephen said:

Oooh man your crazy that's ice ,,snow yeah! ,,but ice  ,, i salute you

Thanks! Ice is totally fine as long as you don't lean into turns. Once in a while I forget that lesson, usually when I am distracted by something.

Edited January 19, 2019 by winterwheel

[Mike Sacristan]

6 minutes ago, Unventor said:

I hear you, however if you look at the forum you will find a lot of passive readers. The hole point of writing public is to invite others to join in. And to share experiences. It just so happen you might find a new that share same interest riding EUC. Ohh almost forgot, should you ever find you way western part of Sweden you are very welcome ask for a possible meetup. 😁 Lets go crazy 😆

@Smoother Exactly this. The invitation extends to you all of course! And now we all know a little more about each other.

[Unventor]

58 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

What exactly is your profession, that allows you to take a 1-year sabbatical? Speaking as an envious Yank 

No problem ignoring my question if you want to keep things private, but I figured it can't hurt to ask 

Some job or a lot of jobs allow you to take 1 year leave to test a different job role. It has happen 3 time iny office, in the 11 years I worked there. 3 other people that is. You have to apply for it, and it can be denied by the company. 

@Mike Sacristan this is just for situations like yours. It is a way for a company to keep skilled people in the company, who just need a break, or want to learn something new.

[Mike Sacristan]

2 minutes ago, winterwheel said:

 

Thanks! Ice is totally fine as long as you don't lean into turns. Once in a while I forget that lesson, usually when I am distracted by something.

That's right! Gotta do that funky upper body twist instead haha.

[Unventor]

27 minutes ago, winterwheel said:

An outtake from my Canmore trip.

Woha you are a natural icebreaker. Now you have conversation going. Not even @Hunka Hunka Burning Love is that smooth.

Note: I hope you are ok.

[Mike Sacristan]

13 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Fantastic. Riding the wheel must change your personality, because in your videos you come across as fun loving and not bitter  Good for you in being able to take a step back to consider the bigger picture.

I myself am a lowly Aerospace engineer having spent my career working in the satellite industry. I just have a few more years before retirement and then I get to enjoy one hell of long sabbatical 

Thank you! When i'm on the wheel I feel that I can let go of everything. This is why it has become so addictive. However I still struggle in situations like if there are pedestrians spread out all over the shared bike/pedestrian path.

Haha lowly you say. Well I think you win this round. That is quite impressive and to such a degree that I hardly know what it means. I guess many people might feel the same about what I do as well though. 

I have 20 years to go before retirement! And by then they will probably raise it 67 years of age instead of the current 65. So i'm half way through my working career as it stands.

[winterwheel]

3 minutes ago, Unventor said:

Woha you are a natural icebreaker. Now you have conversation going. Not even @Hunka Hunka Burning Love is that smooth.

Note: I hope you are ok.

Totally fine, only my ego bruised a little.

[Girth Brooks]

@winterwheel that scenic view in your video though!! Wow!!!

[winterwheel]

2 minutes ago, Girth Brooks said:

@winterwheel that scenic view in your video though!! Wow!!!

Thanks, Canmore and that area really beautiful, I was happy to be able to get some riding in there.

[stephen]

31 minutes ago, Mike Sacristan said:

That's right! Gotta do that funky upper body twist instead haha. 

Or watch your footage back on the insta360😉

[Smoother]

44 minutes ago, Unventor said:

I hear you, however if you look at the forum you will find a lot of passive readers. The hole point of writing public is to invite others to join in. And to share experiences. It just so happen you might find a new that share same interest riding EUC. Ohh almost forgot, should you ever find you way western part of Sweden you are very welcome ask for a possible meetup. 😁 Lets go crazy 😆

Welll.... I did find out you both have cats, so that's something i guess.

[Smoother]

36 minutes ago, Unventor said:

Woha you are a natural icebreaker. Now you have conversation going. Not even @Hunka Hunka Burning Love is that smooth.

Note: I hope you are ok.

Yes, he was told he had to break the ice to talk to the ladies, but who told him he had to break the ice with his head?

[Smoother]

1 hour ago, Mike Sacristan said:

I have become a bit of a bitter and unhappy person and that was a bit of a high price for me to pay.

I think this is more prevalent than one would imagine.  Most people that have a job are doing something they dislike or even hate. Oh they paint a fabulous picture on Facebook because that's the game; pictures from exotic locations, big happy smiles, fancy cloths, fancy toys (where possible), try to look more happy and successful than your "friends" look on their pages.  But behind the facade there is fear, worry, resentment, anger, pain, regrets; life really.  I wish I could feel the way I felt when I was 17, when I still hadn't learned how bitter, mean, selfish, inconsiderate and cruel a lot of people can be.  I think this is a source of a lot of anger and bitterness in the world.  Your work security in Sweden sounds ideal.  Here, and in the US you can be fired at the drop of a hat.  After the second world war job security was the norm because economies were expanding.  Job security has become a historic artifact starting at least 20 years ago, maybe more. I'll stop now as my soap box is creaking under my weight.

Edited January 19, 2019 by Smoother

[Mike Sacristan]

1 minute ago, Smoother said:

I think this is more prevalent than one would imagine.  Most people that have a job are doing something they dislike or even hate. Oh they paint a fabulous picture on Facebook because that's the game; pictures from exotic locations, big happy smiles, fancy cloths, fancy toys (where possible), try to look more happy and successful than your "friends" look on their pages.  But behind the facade there is fear, worry, resentment, anger, pain, regrets; life really.  I wish I could feel the way I felt when I was 17, when I still hadn't learned how bitter, mean, selfish, inconsiderate and cruel a lot of people can be.  I think this is a source of a lot of anger and bitterness in the world.  Your work security in Sweden sounds ideal.  Here, and in the US you can be fired in the drop of a hat.  After the second world war job security was the norm because economies were expanding.  Job security has become a historic artifact starting at least 20 years ago, maybe more. I'll stop now as my soap box is creaking under my weight.

Thank you so much for this. It helps me feel a bit more sane. And it's valuable for me to hear your insights. In the end.. the question I asked myself was: "Are you happy?". And the answer was no. I love what I do and I am extremely good at it. I just don't like the way I have to do it. I agree... when I was 17 and living in Spain I was rather care free. Sure, I moved away from home and had a job but still it wasn't like my job was haunting me 24/7. Like it does now. This has been an ongoing trend with me though for the past 14-15 years. And I really shouldn't have anything to be unhappy about because I have everything. But here I am.

Regarding work security. Yes it is rather ideal and very much in favour of the employee. This goes hand in hand with Sweden's political correctness which sometimes and most often goes too far. Still this prevents ad-hoc terminations and encourages employers to work with the work environments. It can also turn against them though because an employee could pretty much underperform constantly and not get fired. However if one would work with the employee to correct the attitude then everything would work out. This system does seem to breed mediocre achievers though. Swedes are pretty good at work/life balance though. I'm terrible at it.

[winterwheel]

53 minutes ago, Smoother said:

Yes, he was told he had to break the ice to talk to the ladies, but who told him he had to break the ice with his head?

Whatever it takes..

[Smoother]

Just now, winterwheel said:

Whatever it takes..

[Mike Sacristan]

Alrighty now my video is finally ready!

I went for a long ride today. It was -9C in the morning. I waited until it was -2C (12:30PM) and went for a ride. During the ride the temperature rose to 0C.
I have a mud guard but I have not yet put it on the MSX. As I understand it has to be screwed on which means mangling the plastic at the back. I will see if there is another way. The back of my jacket got sprayed with salt water though so it's going to be fun cleaning it.

Total ride was around 45km. The wheel stopped tracking distance at some point and even the wheels total mileage / odometer is missing around 20km somehow. I did fall/tip a couple of times at around 2km/h and according to forum legend there is talk of mileage resetting when this happens.

Anyway I had a blast. Put on plenty of layers of clothes and 2 pairs of gloves. Hardly needed to rest either and only took 2 short stops. Used the full face helmet which is interesting as always as it makes everything feel slower.

 

 

[Smoother]

8 minutes ago, Mike Sacristan said:

Thank you so much for this. It helps me feel a bit more sane. And it's valuable for me to hear your insights. In the end.. the question I asked myself was: "Are you happy?". And the answer was no. I love what I do and I am extremely good at it. I just don't like the way I have to do it. I agree... when I was 17 and living in Spain I was rather care free. Sure, I moved away from home and had a job but still it wasn't like my job was haunting me 24/7. Like it does now. This has been an ongoing trend with me though for the past 14-15 years. And I really shouldn't have anything to be unhappy about because I have everything. But here I am.

Regarding work security. Yes it is rather ideal and very much in favour of the employee. This goes hand in hand with Sweden's political correctness which sometimes and most often goes too far. Still this prevents ad-hoc terminations and encourages employers to work with the work environments. It can also turn against them though because an employee could pretty much underperform constantly and not get fired. However if one would work with the employee to correct the attitude then everything would work out. This system does seem to breed mediocre achievers though. Swedes are pretty good at work/life balance though. I'm terrible at it.

Well it sound like someone will have to spend the summer in Spain, "rediscovering his youthful self"  and I'm not just talking about you.

[Marty Backe]

20 minutes ago, Mike Sacristan said:

Thank you so much for this. It helps me feel a bit more sane. And it's valuable for me to hear your insights. In the end.. the question I asked myself was: "Are you happy?". And the answer was no. I love what I do and I am extremely good at it. I just don't like the way I have to do it. I agree... when I was 17 and living in Spain I was rather care free. Sure, I moved away from home and had a job but still it wasn't like my job was haunting me 24/7. Like it does now. This has been an ongoing trend with me though for the past 14-15 years. And I really shouldn't have anything to be unhappy about because I have everything. But here I am.

Regarding work security. Yes it is rather ideal and very much in favour of the employee. This goes hand in hand with Sweden's political correctness which sometimes and most often goes too far. Still this prevents ad-hoc terminations and encourages employers to work with the work environments. It can also turn against them though because an employee could pretty much underperform constantly and not get fired. However if one would work with the employee to correct the attitude then everything would work out. This system does seem to breed mediocre achievers though. Swedes are pretty good at work/life balance though. I'm terrible at it.

To change the subject a bit, what is the deal with your signature picture? It's like IN YOUR FACE huge, but seems unrelated to anything. Maybe I'll feel better about it if I know why I'm looking at it

Sorry, something just snapped within me 

Edited January 19, 2019 by Marty Backe

[winterwheel]

15 minutes ago, Mike Sacristan said:

Alrighty now my video is finally ready!

I went for a long ride today. It was -9C in the morning. I waited until it was -2C (12:30PM) and went for a ride. During the ride the temperature rose to 0C.
I have a mud guard but I have not yet put it on the MSX. As I understand it has to be screwed on which means mangling the plastic at the back. I will see if there is another way. The back of my jacket got sprayed with salt water though so it's going to be fun cleaning it.

Total ride was around 45km. The wheel stopped tracking distance at some point and even the wheels total mileage / odometer is missing around 20km somehow. I did fall/tip a couple of times at around 2km/h and according to forum legend there is talk of mileage resetting when this happens.

Anyway I had a blast. Put on plenty of layers of clothes and 2 pairs of gloves. Hardly needed to rest either and only took 2 short stops. Used the full face helmet which is interesting as always as it makes everything feel slower.

 

Great video, I'd love to try doing 45k one of these days, my winter max has been about 10. On mudguards, I ruined two expensive leather jackets last winter, the spray came up off the back of the wheel onto the back of the jackets which became a wrinkled mess that I really didn't notice until too late.

Edited January 19, 2019 by winterwheel